


Ghosts and Snow

by LeeBean



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Familial Relationship, Gen, One Shot, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:13:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23632159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeBean/pseuds/LeeBean
Summary: Every time he tries to take a vacation it gets interrupted. Maybe this time for Sherry's sake if not his, he'll get to see this one through to the end. The quiet, snowy mountainside leaves him in a pensive mood, one that Sherry isn't going to let him linger in for too long.  - Originally posted on tumblr.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Ghosts and Snow

He was going to have to thank Hunnigan for managing to pull the strings required to get their schedules to line up, even if they only overlapped for a couple of days. The cabin in the mountains was serene and beautiful and absolutely and entirely his. You’d think that with the money he had, it’d be easier to grease the palms necessary to arrange the brief vacation together.

He was out on the deck, snow still settled on the furniture out there, looking out over the scenery as it sloped away from the cabin as the sun began to rise. The other occupant of the cabin was, as far as he was aware, still asleep in her room. Thinking as much, he leaned a little heavier on the railing and lit a cigarette.

Behind him, unbeknown to him, Sherry watched him as she rubbed sleep from her eyes. She wasn’t sure what had woken her from an otherwise pleasant sleep, it was early even for her as an agent. She didn’t think it was Leon moving around, god knew the man moved like a ghost when he wanted to.

Nevertheless, when she’d padded out in her pajamas, sheet wrapped around her to further guard against the chill, she couldn’t help but pause when she spied the more seasoned agent beyond the sliding patio door out onto the deck. 

She wasn’t sure what it was about him or the seemingly pensive air about him but there was something melancholy about him even then. Like the guilt continued to plague him despite them both being far away from the cruel realities of their line of work and surrounded by tranquil beauty.

She’d heard rumour about him since New York, about how he’d been drunk by lunchtime and tried to decline an op that would save lives, even if it wasn’t authorised by the DSO. Like he was too busy wallowing to help people. That didn’t sound like him but there, out on that deck and weighed down by horrors she could only imagine, she wondered.

How exaggerated were those tales of his alcoholism and reckless bravery?

Was he really looking for the op that would end his life?

Sherry worried.

She couldn’t change the past, couldn’t give him a brighter future to look forward to, but perhaps she could lessen the burden those weary shoulders were carrying.

The cigarette was almost finished by the time the door behind him slid open and he stubbed it out, pushing it aside into some of the snow lingering on the railing as Sherry stepped up beside him to join him in looking out over the scenery. Nothing was said for a short while.

Eventually Sherry spoke up, gently nudging against the elder agent’s side with a small smile. “Skiing today, right?” she asked softly, just to break the silence.

“Mmhm,” Leon confirmed and then shifted slightly to look over at her with a wry little smirk. “Now what is it that you really want to ask?”

Sherry blushed a little before smiling, refusing to break eye contact once it was made. “You know I never blamed you, right?” she asked, though it was more a rhetorical question than anything. She knew he wouldn’t answer and she wasn’t surprised when his eyes slid away from her.

“What happened after Raccoon, none of it was your fault. Simmons, he….” she paused, trying to work out what to say and how to say it to a man who seemed intent on bearing the weight of decisions he’d had little choice but to make. “It doesn’t matter,” she continued, shaking her head. “What matters is that it wasn’t your fault,” she insisted.

He tried to hide those tired eyes behind his hair and still refused to look at her until placed a hand on his arm, prompting him to look first at the touch and then at her with a mournful look that she wasn’t going to let linger.

“Leon I know what happened and how you saved my life by giving up your own. I wouldn’t be here right now if not for you and I need you to stop beating yourself up about that day because I’m really glad I could be here, with you again.”

It wasn’t the same as after Raccoon, when Claire had been there and the three of them were hand in hand after surviving the worst night of their lives, still riding high on the adrenaline but she was alive and she was happy and even after all those years apart, they were still family.

“Now stop moping and come inside out of the cold, please? I’ll make us breakfast,” she pleaded, already lowering her hand and turning to head back inside.

“Sherry, wait,” Leon called gently, taking her hand before it could fall away completely and turning to face her. Gently he pulled her into a hug and rested his chin on her head, closing his eyes.

“Thanks,” he murmured into her hair, pressing a chaste little kiss to the top of her head before letting her go. “I’ll be there in a minute, okay kiddo? Just gonna grab some wood from the pile.”

Sherry smiled, bobbing her head in a small nod and taking the few short steps back to the patio door. “Don’t be long or I’ll eat your share of breakfast too, got it?”

Chuckling softly, Leon nodded. “Got it.”


End file.
